Carl Orff - O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) - YouTube Carl Orff - O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jan 13, 2014 Full Song Title: O Fortuna by Carl Orff In 1935--36, "O Fortuna" was set to music by the German composer Carl Orff for his twenty-four-movement cantata Carmina Burana. The composition appears in numerous films and television commercials and has become a staple in popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations. Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 -- March 29, 1982) was a 20th-century German composer. In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential approach toward music education for children. Orff is most known for Carmina Burana (1936), a "scenic cantata".

It is the first part of a trilogy that also includes Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. Carmina Burana reflected his interest in medieval German poetry. The trilogy as a whole is called Trionfi, or "Triumphs". The composer described it as the celebration of the triumph of the human spirit through sexual and holistic balance. The work was based on thirteenth-century poetry found in a manuscript dubbed the Codex latinus monacensis found in the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern in 1803 and written by the Goliards; this collection is also known as Carmina Burana. While "modern" in some of his compositional techniques, Orff was able to capture the spirit of the medieval period in this trilogy, with infectious rhythms and simple harmonies. The medieval poems, written in Latin and an early form of German, are often racy, but without descending into smut. "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi", commonly known as "O Fortuna", from Carmina Burana, is often used to denote primal forces, for example in the Oliver Stone movie The Doors.

The work's association with fascism also led Pier Paolo Pasolini to use the movement "Veris leta facies" to accompany the concluding scenes of torture and murder in his final film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. With the success of Carmina Burana, Orff disowned all of his previous works except for Catulli Carmina and the Entrata (an orchestration of "The Bells" by William Byrd (1539--1623)), which were rewritten until acceptable by Orff. Later on, however, many of these earlier works were released (some even with Orff's approval). As an historical aside, Carmina Burana is probably the most famous piece of music composed and premiered in Nazi Germany. Carmina Burana was in fact so popular that Orff received a commission in Frankfurt to compose incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was supposed to replace the banned music by Mendelssohn. After several performances of this music, he claimed not to be satisfied with the it and reworked it into the final version that was first performed in 1964. Orff was reluctant to term any of his works simply operas in the traditional sense.

For example, he referred to his works Der Mond (The Moon, 1939) and Die Kluge (The Wise Woman, 1943) as "Märchenoper" ("fairytale operas"). Both compositions feature the same "timeless" sound, called timeless because they do not employ any of the musical techniques of the period in which they were composed, with the intent that they be difficult to define as belonging to a particular era. Their melodies, rhythms, and accompanying text form a unique union of words and music. About his Antigonae (1949), Orff said specifically that it was not an opera but rather a Vertonung, a "musical setting", of the ancient tragedy. The text is an excellent German translation, by Friedrich Hölderlin, of the Sophocles play of the same name. The orchestration relies heavily on the percussion section and is otherwise fairly simple. It has been labelled by some as minimalistic, a term which is most pertinent in terms of the melodic line. The story of Antigone has a haunting similarity to the history of Sophie Scholl, heroine of the White Rose, and Orff may have been memorializing her in his opera.

Orff's last work, De temporum fine comoedia (Play on the End of Times), had its premiere at the Salzburg Festival on August 20, 1973, and was performed by Herbert von Karajan and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and Chorus. In this highly personal work, Orff presented a mystery play, sung in Greek, German, and Latin, in which he summarized his view of the end of time. Gassenhauer, which Orff composed with Gunild Keetman, was used as the theme music for Terrence Malick's film Badlands (1973). Hans Zimmer later reworked this music for his True Romance (1993) score. I hope you enjoy this marvelous piece as much as I have. The video is also available in HD and you can buy the song on iTunes. Please Note: I do not claim copyright or ownership of the song played in this video. All copyrighted content remains property of their respective owners! Category Free Music Archive: MIT Concert Choir - O Fortuna Free Music Archive Curators Past Week Past Month All Time About the FMA O Fortuna by MIT Concert Choir Album Description Dr.

William Cutter, Director, presents the MIT Concert Choir, December 2, 2006, Kresge Auditorium, MIT. Featuring: THE WORK Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the secular poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana organized into a libretto, mostly in Latin verse, with a small amount of Middle High German and Old Provençal. The selection covers a wide range of topics, as familiar in the 13th century as they are today: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of Spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust. Orff's Carmina Burana contains little or no development in the classical sense, and polyphony is also conspicuously absent. Orff was influenced melodically by late Renaissance and early Baroque composers, including William Byrd and Claudio Monteverdi.

It is a common misconception that Orff based the melodies of Carmina Burana on neumeatic melodies; while many of the lyrics in the Burana Codex are enhanced with neumes, almost none of these melodies had been deciphered at the time of Orff's composition, and none of them had served Orff as a melodic model. His shimmering orchestration shows a deference to Stravinsky. Rhythm, for Orff as it was for Stravinsky, is often the primary musical element. Overall, it sounds rhythmically straightforward and simple, but the metre will change freely from one measure to the next. While the rhythmic arc in a section is taken as a whole, a measure of five may be followed by one of seven, to one of four, and so on, often with caesura marked between them. These constant rhythmic changes combined with the caesura create a very "conversational" feel – so much so that the rhythmic complexities of the piece are often overlooked. Some of the solo arias pose bold challenges for singers: the only solo tenor aria "Olim lacus colueram" must be sung almost completely in falsetto to demonstrate the suffering of the character.

The baritone arias often demand high notes not commonly found in baritone repertoire, and parts of the baritone aria "Dies nox et omnia" must be sung in falsetto: a unique example in baritone repertoire. Also noted is the solo soprano aria "Dulcissime" which demands extremely high notes. Orff intended this aria for a lyric soprano, not a coloratura, so that the musical tensions would be more obvious. paraphrased from Wikipedia entry PROGRAM NOTES Carl Orff’s principal aim evident in Carmina Burana has been a "total theatre" where music, words and movement (this piece is often choreographed) work together in producing an overwhelming effect. He sought models of such a work in two cultural traditions: classical Greek tragedy and Italian Baroque musical theatre. Grove’s dictionary states: “Orff’s musical and dramatic style arose directly from Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and in particular, “The Wedding” (Les Noces). Like “The Wedding”, Carmina Burana (and other Orff works) give an important place to the chorus.

The orchestra, (in this evening’s performance, Orff’s version for two pianos and percussion) is rich in percussion and uses block harmony to underline the highly accented choral rhythms. Polyphony, extended melodic writing and thematic development are rarely found, and instead, the most basic means are pressed into service to generate effects of wild abandon.

This technique produces music of powerful pagan sensuality and direct physical excitement.” The poems selected by the German composer Carl Orff form only a small part of the whole Carmina Burana (the name applied to a large collection of medieval poems which survive in a late medieval manuscript found in the early nineteenth century in southern Germany) These poems, which come to more than two hundred in number but are never of any great length, can be roughly classified as follows: (1) Moralistic and satirical poems, the former being concerned with the human condition and the world at large, the latter with abuses in the church (2) Love songs and songs celebrating the return of spring (3) Songs connected with drinking and gambling A remarkable feature of the intellectual life of the late Middle Ages was the ease and readiness with which scholars and students (and no doubt a good many hangers-on) moved about Europe from one university town to another. There seems to have always been a large number of such people in temporary residence in university towns both in their native countries and in foreign parts.

As might be expected, they were not always on good terms with locals who had no connection with, or interest in, intellectual pursuits (such rustici are a frequent butt in the Carmina Burana) and, as their common interests naturally brought them together, they tended to form a class apart, a society to which the terms Wandering Scholars and Ordo Vagorum have been applied. These it was who in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries composed and sung most of the poems of Carmina Burana. Because they were generally without bonds or ties and were not involved in acquiring or maintaining social status, they were not concerned overmuch with the conventions of society, nor were they greatly troubled by the fulminations of religion against worldly pleasures.

notes excerpted from the concert program [pdf] cover art improvised by Katya Oddio from detail of the forest painting in the Codex Buranus, 1230 AD The Story Of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana | Orff - Classic FM Classic FM Become a VIP The Story Of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana is probably the most frequently performed choral work of the 21st century, made popular by the memorable surfing advert for Old Spice aftershave. But have you ever wondered where its familiar title comes from? The name has Latin roots – “Carmina” means “songs”, while “Burana” is the Latinised form of Beuren, the name of the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuren in Bavaria. So, “Carmina Burana” translates as “Songs Of Beuren”, and refers to a collection of early 13th-century songs and poems that was discovered in Beuren in 1803 – although it has since been established that the collection originated from Seckau Abbey, Austria – and is now housed in the Bavarian State Library.

The songs (over 1000 of them) were written in a mix of Latin, German and medieval French by the Goliards, a band of poet-musicians comprising scholars and clerical students, who celebrated with earthy humour the joys of the tavern, nature, love and lust. Although Orff set the original texts, he chose not to use the primitive musical notation that accompanied some of the songs. The collection was first published in Germany in 1847, but it wasn’t until 1934 that Orff came across the texts; a selection had been translated into English and formed part of a publication called Wine, Women And Song. With the help of Michael Hofmann, a law student and Latin scholar, Orff chose 24 songs and set them to music in what he termed a “scenic cantata”. Carmina Burana is divided into three sections – Springtime, In the Tavern and The Court Of Love – preceded by and ending with an invocation to Fortune. Written between 1935 and 1936 for soloists, choruses and orchestra, it was originally conceived as a choreographed stage work.

It was in this form that it was first heard on June 8, 1937, in Frankfurt, under its full title Carmina Burana: Cantiones Profanae Cantoribus Et Choris Cantandae Comitantibus Instrumentis Atque Imaginibus Magicis (Songs Of Beuren: Secular Songs For Singers And Choruses To Be Sung Together With Instruments And Magic Images). After the triumphant premiere of Carmina Burana, Orff, then 41, wrote to his publishers: “Everything I have written to date, and which you have, unfortunately, published, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana my collected works begin.” However, nothing Orff subsequently wrote ever came close to approaching the popularity of Carmina Burana. Hear it on Deutsche Opera Chorus & Orchestra/Jochum Although there are many good modern alternatives, the classic account that triumphantly stands the test of time was recorded in the presence of the composer in 1968, and features soloists Gundula Janowitz, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerhard Stolze (DG 447 4372). Did you know?

Orff’s masterpiece greatly appealed to the Nazi regime, to whom its rhythms, as one critic put it, were reminiscent of the “stamping columns of the Third Reich”. When Carmina Burana was first performed at La Scala, in 1942, it was as a showpiece for fascist values. O Fortuna - Bold and Beautiful Analysis Comparison Bold and Beautiful Analysis Comparison Reference List O Fortuna from the song cycle of Carmina Burana, demonstrates the medieval style of music. The text was earlier written in the 13th century as a poem, however later elaborated into a an orchestral piece by Carl Orff, in 1935–36. This wonderful piece of music creates a sense of mystery and darkness. And through this it shows the medieval culture and feel. The texture of the piece consists of the vocal parts being monophonic and the accompaniment being homophonic. This helps the song follow the medieval frame. O Fortuna has a metre of 3/o, this means there are 3 semibreves in each bar. This enables every part to be equally balanced. It also creates tension and moves the music.

The piece is also syncopated, the composer has done this because it creates a displace with the beats, so that strong beats become weak and weak beats become strong. Throughout the piece the accompaniment pattern created cross rhythms. This can be seen in section 1 bar 10, shown in figure 10. The instruments used are violins, violas, brass selection, winds and vocals. These add to the feeling of the song by creating tension and making the song sound more mysterious and dark. The rhythm of the piece is conveyed through ties, expressed as a dot above the note, meaning short sharp notes, pauses, these allow the instrument to hold the note for as long as the conductor wishes and caesura (train tracks), these indicate a pause in the music. All these musical implements refer back to the medieval style creating tension and mood, which provides a steady but forward movement all throughout the song. The dynamics used throughout the song are as follows: decrescendo, meaning gradually decreasing volume, these allow the instrument to hold the note for as long as they want, pianissimo, meaning very soft (pp), forte (f).

These were used to provide meaning to the song, enabling contrast with the sound from loud to soft and soft to loud. Carl Orff incorporated a lot of unison in the piece, all four vocal parts were singing together most of the time. This created a sense of chanting following the medieval feel to the song. E.g. bars 5 – 8 , seen in figure 1.The song is pretty much all accented this contributes to the articulation and prosody of the song. The song uses the horizontal accent mark E.g. bars 1-3. The accented parts make me feel excited and more drawn into the piece. The harmony is played through the singing parts, of soprano, alto, tenor and bass, like a fight between the singing parts. Although the harmony of the vocal parts is polyphonic, there are moments of unison throughout the piece, seen in figure 1 this creates chanting and adds to the medieval mood of the piece. There are rudimentary harmonies present within the piece, e.g. bars 26 and 27, shown in figure 2.

Tonic and dominant style is also shown in the piece, for example, bar 1 and 2 have the tonic, and bar 3 and 4 has the dominant, however, only if the 3rd of the song is missing. Seen in figure 12. This gives a medieval harmony as you don’t know whether it is major or minor. O Fortuna is in the key of D minor, it has an added note chord making it Dm2 . This is shown in the first bar with the first chord, consisting of D,F,A and a discord E, creating Dm2 . From bar 13 to bar 18 key changes to D natural minor, as C natural is used with the chords A and D. the C is used to lead D and it makes the chord sound more resolved, seen in figure 11. The first section shows an orchestral reduction, in which the piano is playing the orchestral part, seen in figure 3. At the beginning of the piece the chords are quite “clashy”, shown in the first 2 bars. The 2nd phrase in bars 5 – 12 is repetitive and has 3 minims in each bar.

There ostinato’s in bars 5 and 6, 77 and 78, 81 and 82, 85 and 86, shown in figure 4. In bar 28 a new thinner texture begins and the vocal parts are now back in unison. Then in bar 46 the texture of the piece gets slightly thicker as the tension builds up. This thicker texture is shown through the shilling harmony by the vocal parts, instead of being in unison, shown in figure 13. All the vocal parts end on the tonic D in bar 59, arranges for the ending of a section ready to begin a new section within the piece. In bar 61, “the powers of darkness are unleased”, (Papas, E). this is meant by the volume, range and tension of the song building up to create a bigger statement with the piece. The Soprano and alto expand their range and go up and octave, this also shows how the piece is making a bigger statement. In the last section of the work the melody is smooth and in 3rds.

This type of melody is enabling for the end of the piece, in which the instruments are getting ready for the big finish. The vocals are back in unison and there are more pedal notes that are playing the same note syncopated, all preparing for the ending of the piece. In the last eight bars of the piece, in the treble, instrumental part, an F # chord is used, which makes the key major, also leading up to the big ending. Getting closer and closer to the big ending of the song, a D natural minor, is used at the end of bar 96, creating and reinforcing the medieval feel the song is portraying. The big ending has arrived, crashing down on the song causing tension and dark mysterious emotions, seen in figure 5. Overall O Fortuna is an exceptional piece of music sharing the mystery and darkness of the medieval period. It explores a range of musical elements and gives a sense of history to it. Through the balance of life and time, music changes and tells its own history and that’s exactly what this song ensures. BEST EVER O Fortuna - Carl Orff Carmina Burana - YouTube BEST EVER O Fortuna - Carl Orff Carmina Burana Want to watch this again later?

Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 19, 2012 banned 1991 O Fortuna Techno VERSION The cacophonic masterpiece that is O Fortuna was written by German composer Carl Orff in 1935 and is the opening and closing movements to Orf's Carmina Burana. It premiered at Frankfurt in Nazi Germany in 1937. Originally designed by Orff as a concert with dancers and staging Carmina Burana later morphed into the concert hall cantata we know today. Carl Orff permitted commercial use of the piece where it reached mainstream audiences on TV and Cinema throughout the 60's & 70's in particular the UK 'Old Spice' ocean surfer adverts. This fantastic American orchestra & choir's rendition of O Fortuna seems to have blasted all other contenders out of the water. Bravo!

Carl Orff died in 1982 aged 87 and is buried in Andechs just south of his home town Munich Music: Carl Orff - O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) Carl Orff - Oh Da Hangt Den Mond (Der Mond) Category Orff: Carmina Burana - Marin Alsop | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic Orff: Carmina Burana google+ AllMusic Review by Blair Sanderson One of the most popular of modern choral works, Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana has found its way into many collections just on the strength of its foreboding opening, "O Fortuna." Because this work is well represented in all the major labels' catalogs, one has a wide array of performances to choose from; while several are excellent, it is difficult to say one recording is ranked above the rest. Still, there are plenty of reasons to try Marin Alsop 's 2006 Naxos recording with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus , mostly because of its fantastic sound quality and amazingly defined details.

All of the Latin and German texts are enunciated crisply by the soloists and chorus, and the orchestra plays with extraordinary precision; even the tracks are clearly separated, to allow for full resonance at the end of sections and to make the performance seem as neat as possible. This fastidious recording may not have the most imposing opening (unless the volume is turned up really high), so listeners who crave a thunderous "O Fortuna" should look elsewhere, because Alsop 's emphasis on verbal clarity makes it a little less than explosive. However, this is a good recording for studying the work, and this bright, energetic performance holds up well on repeated listening. The vocal solos by baritone Markus Eiche and tenor Tom Randle are appropriately comical and entertaining, but soprano Claire Rutter 's singing in "Stetit puella" and "In trutina" is beautiful in tone and expression, and well-suited to the most affecting moments of this cantata. Naxos' reproduction captures everything, though there are isolated moments where it seems an extra microphone could have made the ensemble sound a little fuller.

Track Listing Free Music Archive: MIT Concert Choir - Orff: Carmina Burana Free Music Archive Curators Past Week Past Month All Time About the FMA Orff: Carmina Burana by MIT Concert Choir Album Description image detail of the forest from Codex Buranus, 1230 AD TAGGED AS: Dr. William Cutter, Director, presents the MIT Concert Choir, December 2, 2006, Kresge Auditorium, MIT. Featuring: THE WORK Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the secular poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana organized into a libretto, mostly in Latin verse, with a small amount of Middle High German and Old Provençal. The selection covers a wide range of topics, as familiar in the 13th century as they are today: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of Spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust.

Orff's Carmina Burana contains little or no development in the classical sense, and polyphony is also conspicuously absent. Orff was influenced melodically by late Renaissance and early Baroque composers, including William Byrd and Claudio Monteverdi. It is a common misconception that Orff based the melodies of Carmina Burana on neumeatic melodies; while many of the lyrics in the Burana Codex are enhanced with neumes, almost none of these melodies had been deciphered at the time of Orff's composition, and none of them had served Orff as a melodic model. His shimmering orchestration shows a deference to Stravinsky. Rhythm, for Orff as it was for Stravinsky, is often the primary musical element. Overall, it sounds rhythmically straightforward and simple, but the metre will change freely from one measure to the next. While the rhythmic arc in a section is taken as a whole, a measure of five may be followed by one of seven, to one of four, and so on, often with caesura marked between them.

These constant rhythmic changes combined with the caesura create a very "conversational" feel – so much so that the rhythmic complexities of the piece are often overlooked. Some of the solo arias pose bold challenges for singers: the only solo tenor aria "Olim lacus colueram" must be sung almost completely in falsetto to demonstrate the suffering of the character. The baritone arias often demand high notes not commonly found in baritone repertoire, and parts of the baritone aria "Dies nox et omnia" must be sung in falsetto: a unique example in baritone repertoire. Also noted is the solo soprano aria "Dulcissime" which demands extremely high notes. Orff intended this aria for a lyric soprano, not a coloratura, so that the musical tensions would be more obvious. paraphrased from Wikipedia entry PROGRAM NOTES Carl Orff’s principal aim evident in Carmina Burana has been a "total theatre" where music, words and movement (this piece is often choreographed) work together in producing an overwhelming effect. He sought models of such a work in two cultural traditions: classical Greek tragedy and Italian Baroque musical theatre.

Grove’s dictionary states: “Orff’s musical and dramatic style arose directly from Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and in particular, “The Wedding” (Les Noces). Like “The Wedding”, Carmina Burana (and other Orff works) give an important place to the chorus. The orchestra, (in this evening’s performance, Orff’s version for two pianos and percussion) is rich in percussion and uses block harmony to underline the highly accented choral rhythms. Polyphony, extended melodic writing and thematic development are rarely found, and instead, the most basic means are pressed into service to generate effects of wild abandon.

This technique produces music of powerful pagan sensuality and direct physical excitement.” The poems selected by the German composer Carl Orff form only a small part of the whole Carmina Burana (the name applied to a large collection of medieval poems which survive in a late medieval manuscript found in the early nineteenth century in southern Germany) These poems, which come to more than two hundred in number but are never of any great length, can be roughly classified as follows: (1) Moralistic and satirical poems, the former being concerned with the human condition and the world at large, the latter with abuses in the church (2) Love songs and songs celebrating the return of spring (3) Songs connected with drinking and gambling A remarkable feature of the intellectual life of the late Middle Ages was the ease and readiness with which scholars and students (and no doubt a good many hangers-on) moved about Europe from one university town to another. There seems to have always been a large number of such people in temporary residence in university towns both in their native countries and in foreign parts.

As might be expected, they were not always on good terms with locals who had no connection with, or interest in, intellectual pursuits (such rustici are a frequent butt in the Carmina Burana) and, as their common interests naturally brought them together, they tended to form a class apart, a society to which the terms Wandering Scholars and Ordo Vagorum have been applied. These it was who in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries composed and sung most of the poems of Carmina Burana. Because they were generally without bonds or ties and were not involved in acquiring or maintaining social status, they were not concerned overmuch with the conventions of society, nor were they greatly troubled by the fulminations of religion against worldly pleasures.

notes excerpted from the concert program [pdf] cover art improvised by Katya Oddio from detail of the forest painting in the Codex Buranus, 1230 AD More Albums O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orf - TheBold&TheBeautiful TheBold&TheBeautiful Pathetique Sonata Annotated Score Carl Orff (10/7/ 1895- 29/3/1982)3 was an artist and educator famous for one particular series of compositions. Orff was born into a well- to do military family, however his family allowed him to follow his musical talents and interests rather than a career as a soldier, although he did serve as a soldier for a short period of time in World War Two.1 Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, his first composition to attract world- wide attention, is considered one of the enduring masterpieces of the 20th Century. 1 O Fortuna was written in 1935- 1936, a short time before the happenings of World War II, and premiered in Frankfurt, Germany.10 Orff also is a noted musical educator and major influence on the teachings of music to children.

His school was his chief enthusiasm in his musical work and many of those he taught possessed no instrumental skills or talents. Carl Orff (10/7/ 1895- 29/3/1982)3 was an artist and educator famous for one particular series of compositions. Orff was born into a well- to do military family, however his family allowed him to follow his musical talents and interests rather than a career as a soldier, although he did serve as a soldier for a short period of time in World War Two.1 Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, his first composition to attract world- wide attention, is considered one of the enduring masterpieces of the 20th Century. 1 O Fortuna was written in 1935- 1936, a short time before the happenings of World War II, and premiered in Frankfurt, Germany.10 Orff also is a noted musical educator and major influence on the teachings of music to children. His school was his chief enthusiasm in his musical work and many of those he taught possessed no instrumental skills or talents.

The piece ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana, composed by Carl Orff, is most famous as the ‘most overused musical piece in history’10 , and for its bold and extreme reduction and increasing of volume through from amplified vocal melodies and accompaniment to contrasting extreme pianissimo and chanting. The piece itself can be described as Neo- Medieval (Papas, E. 2014) due to its medieval characteristics and elements of folk songs.10 The song begins in the key signature of D minor and the vocal parts (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) sing in an octave lower than written in the score provided below. Also according to the analysed score, the accompaniment is an orchestral reduction for the piano. The original instruments used in ‘O Fortuna’ are; - Three Flutes - Three clarinets (Bb and A) - Two bassoons - Two SATB mixed choirs small and large) - One boys’ choir - Soprano, tenor and baritone soloists 10 Tempo In the first section of the piece (Bars 1-9) the tempo marking reads as three semibreves a bar and one minim = 60.

There is also the marking ‘Pesante’- meaning ‘Heavy and Ponderous’ and above bar 3 ‘Poco stringando’- prompting the players of the piece to ‘gradually get slowly faster’2 In bar 5 the tempo changes to minim = 120- 132 and three minims to a bar At bar 62 the tempo changes to minim = 144 In bar 93 the tempo changes for the last time to minim = 160 Tonality The piece begins in the key of D minor and the beginning chords create a D minor 2chord. In bar 13, the accompaniment creates a tonic chord (D, A) and then a dominant chord ( C ) that in turn creates D natural minor, giving the piece an essential medieval feel. In the last two sections of the piece, from bar 93, the tiers de piccardie created by the accompaniment by adding an F sharp creates a D major key, the last key change of the piece. Structure The piece O Fortuna is a verse and chorus piece.

Duration The piece O Fortuna is 101 bars in length Timbre The timbre of the piece is wild, colourful and chaotic. The piece contains frequent deliberate chord and melodic clashes and also varied textures as the chorus is amplified and chaotic whilst the hushed chanting of the verses are more structured and create a more tense mood than the chaotic atmosphere that the chorus creates. Expressive Devices - caesura ('train tracks' pause before the chorus) - f (forte) - pause Texture The piece has a primitive quality, the rhythms used are simple, yet repeated obsessively and polyphonic textures are virtually non- existent. (Papas, E. 2014) The chorus of the piece is noticeably layered and thick as the melodic parts chant in unison whilst the harmonic parts play a contrary pattern of notes repetitively, creating a sense of chaotic harmony. Compared to this, the hushed chanting of the verses is smoother and create a suspenseful atmosphere whilst the melodic and harmonic parts are still in contrast to one another. A particular section where the melody becomes smoother is bar 90 as the piece enters the final stretch and builds up towards the ending chorus.

The piece moves in block harmonies, in particular the amplified chorus, where each note is harmonised so that all the vices have an identical rhythm.11 An example of this is bar 62 and 63 when the vocal parts enter the second amplified chorus. Within the melody, the parts are almost always monophonic. The melody and harmony move in parallel motion. Melody The first phrase of the composition is centred around D minor and first appears in bars 1 to 2 and then repeated from bar 3 to 4. The vocal parts then dramatically pause to then drop to a hushed chanting in the space between bar 4 and bar 5. In bar 5 there is a noticeable a tempo change where a minim now has the value of 120- 132. The chanted parts are repeated in different steps, descending at first, and are the same musically. The three vocal parts are all in unison.

(Figure 1 and 2) At bar 10 (Marked by a large ‘1’) the melody is still simple and moving by step, each part’s notes are in a range of three to emphasize the hushed sense of tension and grim mood that is the concept behind the piece, and at bar 13- after a two beat rest- the hushed chanting repeats the melody from bar 5, remaining the same. The Accompaniment, however, introduces tonic and dominant notes D, A and C into the harmony to emphasise the intended medieval feel in D natural minor, also muddying the beat and creating note confusion between the parts. (Figure 3) In bar 21, the vocal parts divide so that the soprano and tenor parts differ from the alto and bass parts by a third. This change between parts creates a rudimentary harmony by the alto and bass vocals. Whilst this divide in the vocal melody is occurring, the harmony also adds notes to the progressions and in doing so adds a slightly hurried atmosphere underlying the otherwise steady chanting of the vocal melody.

(This divide is highlighted in the score sample below) (Figure 3 and 4) At bar 25 all the parts return to a slower pace. Continuing from this change at bar 29 the vocals return to as they were before, in unison, and are reduced again in volume, although this time with a slightly thicker texture. Throughout this section, the parts remain the same as the previous section changed only in density, creating a building sense of tension and excitement in anticipation of the upcoming chorus. (Figure 4 and 5) As the piece enters bar 40, the vocal notes begin to slip into holding their notes for longer than the written value, creating a slight lapse in timing with the accompaniment, and the texture becomes thicker in bar 46, where the melody builds up in thirds to create a teasing atmosphere as it approaches the next amplified chorus. The vocal notes are still in harmony.

(Figure 6) Until bar 59 all parts remain the same, at bar 59 all melodic parts end on a tonic note; D, and at the conclusion of following bar pause for a breath (as written with a caesura) before “The Powers of darkness are unleashed” (Papas, E. 2014) and the melody erupts into the amplified chorus as prompted by a change of tonality (minim = 144) and the dynamics ascend from pianissimo to forte (and fortissimo for the accompaniment) Throughout the entirety of the next 12 bars of the next section, the melody remains the same, however the melodic parts have again expanded up an octave. This happens again at ending of this chorus as the vocal parts expand into thirds. (Figure 8) From bar 64 onwards to bar 76 the melody remains the same, but expanded up an octave. However, at bar 77 the vocals again expand into thirds, creating more tension and underlying need for release with the ascension of the volume and pitch.

This remains unchanged until bar 89 where the alto and bass vocals begin to sing pedal notes (the same note sung repeatedly) and at bar 90 the melody becomes smooth and more even. At bar 93 all vocal parts sing slurred pedal notes in unison that are extended whilst the accompaniment plays a hurried, staccato rhythm below the melody’s drawn out pedal notes. (Figure 9) Finally, on the concluding bar, all parts end in a massive ending chord- drawn straight with no pause for breath as indicated by term ‘attacca’ (Go straight on)2, creating a conclusive feeling with an amplified and held chord. (Figure 10) Harmony As the melody does, the accompaniment begins on a Dm2 chord. The two upper parts of the accompaniment play in unison with the harmony whilst the lowest part of the accompaniment provides the underlying chords, creating a dense sound below the repeated amplified melodies of the other parts. From bar 1 to 2 the bottom harmony plays a tonic chord, and then follows in the next two bars with a dominant chord.

(Figure 1) When the melody changes into the hushed chanting at bar 5, the top harmony rests, later to be retracted so the accompaniment contains only two parts. The remaining high harmonic part plays an ostinato (pattern of notes) in contrast to the hushed repetitive chanting of the melodic parts whilst the lower accompaniment changes to a slower staccato pattern. (Figure 2) In bar 10 the accompaniment has been reduced to two parts, both are now bass clef. At bar 13, the accompaniment again switches briefly to a tonic chord for one bar, then a dominant chord in the following bar before once more returning to the ostinato pattern. In bar 21, along with the division of the melodic parts, the higher accompaniment reverts to treble clef and drops an octave, adding notes to the ostinato pattern played repetitively. (Figure 3) In bar 29, as the melody reduces, the dynamics of the accompaniment change to ‘sompre pianissimo (meaning ‘always pianissimo’) 11, but remains otherwise unchanged.

At bar 34, the top accompaniment changes to bass clef and then at bar 46 reverts to treble clef. At bar 58, before the ascension to the amplified chorus, the harmony expands into three parts once more. The harmony also begins the amplified chorus two beats before the melody begins its part, providing an underlying contrasting accompaniment to the chorus. (Figure 8) During the chorus, the middle harmony part develops an ostinato that is repeated throughout the entirety of the chorus and until the end. Contrary to this, the two other harmonic parts play a pattern of notes in unison but at a different pitch to each other. (Figure 8) At bar 93 the harmony is reduced again to two parts. Also at this bar, the top harmony develops an accidental F sharp to the first note of every bar, creating a tiers de piccardie and making the key signature a D major. Whilst this is occurring, the bottom harmony plays a D natural minor chord, creating a medieval feel relevant to the genre of O Fortuna.

(Figure 9) Finally on the concluding bar, the harmonic part joins the melodic parts in unison to create an ending chord and create a feeling of finality. (Figure 10) Carl Orff — Carmina Burana - O Fortuna — Listen, watch, download and discover music for free at Last.fm classical music Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff between 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana. Its full Latin title is Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis ("Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magic images.") Carmina Burana is part of Trionfi, the musical triptych that also includes the cantata… read more Don't want to see ads? Subscribe now Similar Tracks

Question: The song 'O Fortuna' is to be found in which Carl Orff musical work?
Answer: Carmina Burana